Officer Won’t Face Charges In Alabama Mall Shooting

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A police officer will not face charges for killing a man he mistook for the gunman in an Alabama mall shooting.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Tuesday that he concluded the officer did not break the law and will not be charged in the death.

An officer shot 21-year-old Emantic “EJ” Bradford, Jr. while responding to a shooting on Thanksgiving night at a mall in Hoover, Alabama.

The report says the officer mistakenly believed Bradford had fired the earlier shots but was justified in shooting him anyway. The report said the officer saw Bradford running toward the shooting scene with a gun and believed he was trying to kill the shooting victim.

Marshall’s office released surveillance video and other documents from the investigation.

Bradford’s death sparked weeks of protests.

ORIGINAL STORY:

12:15 p.m.

A lawyer for the family of a black man shot to death by an Alabama police officer on Thanksgiving night says they’re devastated by his autopsy.

Their lawyer said Monday that a forensic pathologist hired by the family found Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr. was struck three times in the back side of his body, including one gunshot that entered the rear of his skull.

Speaking at the family’s small church in north Birmingham, attorney Ben Crump says nothing justifies the officer’s shooting of “EJ as he was running away from him.”

Emantic Bradford Sr. was visibly angry at the news conference, jabbing his finger as he addressed the unnamed officer through TV cameras.

He said “this is murder” and called the officer “a coward” for shooting his son in the back.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson also was there. He says the authorities’ refusal to release video evidence smacks of a cover-up.

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10:45 a.m.

Relatives of a black man shot to death on Thanksgiving by an Alabama police officer have a released a forensic exam showing he was hit by three bullets to the back side of his body.

The report released Monday by a lawyer for the dead man’s family says Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr. was struck by one gunshot that entered the rear of his skull. The report says Bradford also was shot once in the back of the neck and a third time in the lower back.

Family attorney Ben Crump says any of the three shots could have killed the 21-year-old. The family hired a forensic pathologist to review the evidence as the state’s investigation continues.

A Hoover officer shot Bradford in a suburban mall on Thanksgiving night.

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10:30 a.m.

Police in an Alabama city say they won’t release officer video or other evidence about an officer’s killing of a black man at a shopping mall until the state investigation is complete.

Hoover police repeated Monday that state investigators are concerned the investigation could be jeopardized if information is released.

A lawyer for the dead man’s family, Ben Crump, is expected Monday to announce the results of a private autopsy on Emantic “EJ” Fitzgerald Bradford Jr.

Bradford was killed by an officer responding to gunfire at the crowded mall Thanksgiving night.

Police initially described Bradford as the mall gunman.

They later said they were wrong, but said Bradford’s appearance with a handgun moments after the shooting increased the threat level for officers.

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5 a.m.

An attorney is expected to release the results of a private autopsy conducted on a black man killed by a police officer responding to gunfire at an Alabama mall.

A police officer fatally shot Emantic “EJ” Fitzgerald Bradford, Jr. after two people were wounded by gunfire in a crowded mall Thanksgiving night.

Police initially described Bradford as the mall gunman, but later said they were wrong. Then they said Bradford’s appearance with a handgun moments after the shooting increased the threat level for officers.

Crump said last week that the family hired a pathologist whose independent autopsy would determine how many times Bradford was shot and if he was shot in the front or the back.